8. Christian giving resembles a harvest (9:6–11a)
8. Christian giving resembles a harvest (9:6–11a)
6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9As it is written:
‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor: his righteousness endures for ever.’
10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11aYou will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion . . .
Two harvest principles are applied here to Christian giving.
First, we reap what we sow. Whoever sows sparingly reaps sparingly, and whoever sows generously reaps generously (v6). ‘Sowing’ is an obvious picture of giving. What then can we expect to ‘reap’? We should not interpret Paul’s point too literally, as if he were saying that the more we give the more we will get. No. Each of us should give ‘what he has decided in his heart to give’, neither reluctantly, nor under compulsion, but rather ungrudgingly, because ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ (v7). Let’s pause for a moment on that phrase ‘what he has decided in his heart to give’. There is a sense here of a settled conviction about how much to give; of a decision reached after careful consideration, and always with joy and cheerfulness.
It is good to remind ourselves here of Paul’s earlier letter to the Corinthians and his exhortation to systematic giving (1 Corinthians 16:1–3). Everyone should, he said, set aside a sum of money in relation to his income ‘on the first day of the week’. Our facility of setting up a bank transfer, for both our church giving and our mission giving, would be very much in keeping with this. We’re reminded again here of the importance of ‘deciding’. It is rarely necessary to give on the spur of the moment. How much better to take time and seek that settled conviction.
If we give in this spirit, what will happen? What harvest can we expect to reap? The answer is two-fold: (i) ‘God is able to make all grace abound to you’ so that ‘in all things’ (not necessarily in material things) you may have all you need, and (ii) you will ‘abound in every good work’ because your opportunities for further service will increase (v8). As the psalmist says, the consequence of giving to the poor is to have a righteousness which endures for ever (v9; Psalm 112:9).
Secondly, what we reap has a double purpose. It is both for eating and for further sowing. The God of the harvest is concerned not only to alleviate our present hunger, but to make provision for the future. So he supplies both ‘bread for food’ (immediate consumption) and ‘seed to the sower’ (to plant when the next season comes round). In the same way God will ‘supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness’ (v10).
These verses are the origin of the concept of ‘seed-money’, expecting God to multiply a donor’s gift. Paul is not teaching a ‘prosperity gospel’, as some have claimed. True, he promises that ‘you will be made rich in every way’, but he adds at once that this is ‘so that you can be generous on every occasion’ (v11a) and so increase your giving. Wealth is with a view to generosity.